I now use a Vitamix for all of my juicing needs, but before I made that investment, I had a cheap juicer that had a hell of a time making leafy greens into deliciously drinkable juice. It took me a little trial and error, as well as helpful recommendations from others, to figure out how to get the most juice out of my greens, so I thought I would share three quick tips that will come in handy for folks new to juicing.

Juicing Leafy Greens Tip #1When juicing leafy greens, such as kale or spinach, put them in the juicer with a solid, longer vegetable -- like a celery stalk or carrot. The greens will sort of get wrapped around the solid vegetable, and you will end up with a lot more juice out of them.

Juicing Leafy Greens Tip #2If your vegan juice recipe calls for spinach, oregano, basil or other smaller leafy greens and herbs, you can get more juice out of them by stuffing them inside another item that you are juicing. For example, if your recipe also has a tomato or apple in the mix, you can stuff the leafy greens or herbs into the hole you make when you core it or cut out the stem.

Juicing Leafy Greens Tip #3Kale has definitely made it to the top of the list as a powerhouse in the juicing-for-health world. If your juicer has a tough time turning kale into juice, leave the kale leaves on their stalks. A lot of people already do this, but since many folks remove the stalks before cooking with kale, it is also common to remove the stalks before juicing with kale. Leave those stalks intact to make it easier for your juicer to process the kale. If all else fails, follow Juicing Leafy Greens Tip #1 and just throw your kale in the juicer with a carrot or celery stalk.

These are just three of the ways that worked for me when trying to coax my cheap juicer into cooperating.